Catholic school principals called in on school holidays to tackle NSW State Government’s funding cuts

School leaders spent time discussing strategies to rethink and reprioritise resources in schools

Greg said that schools need to remain positive and focus on maintaining school quality in light of the NSW funding announcement

The executive director of Catholic Schools in the Diocese of Parramatta called a special meeting with principals of the diocese’s 78 primary and secondary schools on the first day of the school holidays to discuss the NSW state government’s planned cuts to school funding.

Greg Whitby told over 100 school leaders gathered at St Michael’s Primary, Blacktown South that they needed to remain positive and focus on maintaining school quality in light of the NSW state government announcement.

‘This is not a time to panic but it is a game changer,’ said Greg. ‘At the local level we need to be as strong as possible in letting our politicians know this is a poor educational decision. However, we need to be realistic. The current financial climate means that what happens in the global economy effects us locally. Everywhere we look there is pressure and families are struggling. That means we need to look at doing things differently and in a much more sophisticated way. This calls for new ideas.’

‘We are well prepared to face these challenges,’ he said. ‘We have good educational theory and practice that puts us ahead of the game and stands us in good stead to respond effectively, while continuing to improve learning and teaching in our schools.’

‘What we do together today is key; it will determine the future,’ Greg told school leaders. ‘We are now embarking on a very deep conversation with our school and parish communities to ensure we continue to deliver quality Catholic education as we have done for the past 190 years in Australia.

The school leaders spent time at the meeting looking at strategies to rethink and reprioritise resources in order to minimise the impact on teaching jobs and schools fees.

‘At the end of the day we are in the business of delivering quality learning and teaching to students in our schools. That does not change. To the best of our ability we will ensure that the last place there will be an impact is in the classroom.’ 

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